Japanese university using free iPhones to track students

While the American educational system continues to falter, Japanese educators are pushing for high-tech educational tools. A university in Japan is using the popularity of the iPhone to help keep track of their faculty and student body.

About 550 students and staff at Japan’s Aoyama Gakuin University will be getting free iPhones through SoftBank as part of the school’s Mobile & Net Society Education and Training program. Aoyama Gakuin University will use the iPhone’s GPS hardware to help administrators determine if a student is on campus and whether or not they’ve actually been going to class. Because, you know, paper and pencil roll-call is so last decade.

Now, before you start spouting off about “Big Brother” and all that jazz, know that the Japanese university is also planning to send low-level tests and homework assignments through the iPhone. Although, it’s not clear if the school will have access to their fleet of iPhones’ location data when not physically on campus.